Reimagining grocery shopping: The 'Smart Cart' revolution

NEW YORK - A revolutionary shopping experience is emerging from the aisles of our stores, and you can add "Artificial Intelligence" to your grocery list. Imagine dropping items into your cart and watching them magically appear on a digital screen, tallying up as you go.

What is the Caper Smart Cart?

"We're thinking AI can be used just to make your experience way better than it typically could be," said Ahmed Beshrey, co-founder of the Caper Smart Cart – a sleek shopping cart that utilizes computer vision and various technologies to automatically detect and ring up items as shoppers add them to their carts.

"If you look at the shopping cart," he said while giving us a demonstration at the Brookdale Shoprite in Bloomfield, New Jersey. "You see that there are sensors and cameras that actually detect products as you throw them inside of the cart," he explains, highlighting the blend of artificial intelligence and practicality that powers the cart.

The Caper Smart Cart was recently acquired by Instacart for a staggering $350 million and is now in grocery stores across the country, including at least two in NJ. 

"Then there's a screen here. So you could actually interact with the cart as you're shopping," Beshrey said.

Here, we have a unique shopping journey, prompted by a special request list from my 10-year-old daughter, Sabina, who happened to be home sick. (We made a video call from the store)

Sabina's list

• Tostitos for a crunchy snack.
• Cheddar popcorn for a cheesy treat.
• Four plums (very specific), because why not?
• Pink lemonade, skipping the orange juice this time.
• Finally, because she knew she'd be on TV and I probably wouldn't say no, candy – specifically, Airheads, for a sweet escape from the sniffles.

In my brief experience with the cart, I found its precise sensors and cool features like coupon and loyalty card integration, made the shopping experience not only easy but also engaging. 

"It gives you eligible items, you could clip coupons (digitally), and there's also a couple of different things here running total and running savings so you could see what you're spending in real time," Beshrey noted, showcasing how technology can enhance even the simplest tasks.

I was also very curious what would happen when we got to the produce section. It turns out the cart is basically like a giant scale, allowing shoppers to punch in the code and have their items weighed directly within the cart. Even weighing produce, like those four specific plums, was pretty easy. 

The community's response

We ran into a few people using the carts while we were inside. This store has employees who are specifically trained to help people figure it all out.

The feedback from customers has been phenomenal, according to Jerry Manley, vice president of operations at this Shoprite, and another in Newark. 

"I've had people coming to the store now, they've never shopped here before, because they heard about it, and they want to try it," he said. This sentiment echoes the broader potential of AI in retail, not just as a tool for efficiency but as a means to enhance and personalize the shopping experience.

Instacart will also soon roll out advertisements on a few carts in Southern California to potentially offer direct options for customers in stores.

"So what we did is we took a conventional shopping cart, we added a bunch of technology to it, and the idea here is that you could really elevate your experience inside of the grocery store," Beshrey said.